Moves on to raise footy corpus yield

To revive Dhaka’s legendary Muslin fabric, the government has taken steps to boost the production of its key component, footy corpus cotton, in the country.

Four places of the country will be specified for mass producing the cotton.

According to the Bangladesh Handloom Board, currently Muslin fabric is produced using 12 handlooms in the country. In the second phase of the project, eight more handlooms will be added to boost production.

Already footy corpus cotton is being cultivated on land of Cotton Development Board, Handloom Board and Rajshahi University. The government plans to bring another 16.89 acres of Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) land in Mymensingh for producing footy corpus cotton.

At least 40 handloom workers will be working in two shifts once production begins in full swing. Besides, 300 more will be working to provide spinner yarn that is made of footy corpus cotton.

Infrastructural work at Dhakai Muslin House of Rupganj in Narayanganj has been completed as it will also produce yarn and Muslin fabric.

Project Director Ayub Ali told The Business Post that 16.89 acres of unused land of Mymensingh BJMC has been handed over to the Handloom Board.

Currently, soil is being prepared and cultivation will begin in February and production is expected by September, he said.

Muslin, which is a geographical indication certified product of the country, is set to provide 400 employments including 350 women in the Muslin House. Among them, there will be 300 spinners, 45 handloom workers and 55 other officials.
Besides, a display centre will be set up where Muslin productions will be exhibited for attracting customers.

The house will also have day-care centre for the children of the workers. It is expected to be inaugurated next June.

Once footy corpus was cultivated adjacent to Shitalakshya and Meghna rivers which eventually died out with time. In recent time, footy corpus production has been expanded to Rajshahi after inspecting the soil quality.

The production from Rajshahi University’s land and Gazipur’s Cotton Development Board will come in next March but more footy corpus production is required to meet the demands.

Muslin and its glorious history

The legendary cloth of ancient Dhaka is a cotton fabric of plain weave which is made in a wide range of weights from delicate sheers to coarse sheeting.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, Dhaka was regarded as producing the finest muslins. Early muslin was handwoven of uncommonly delicate handspun yarn. It was imported from Bengal into Europe for much of the 17th and early 18th-centuries.

The cotton was grown alongside the river banks of Brahmaputra. Muslin from eastern parts of ancient India was praised in the international market as "woven wind" and "wonder gossamer", and earned a great price.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, Mughal Bengal emerged as the foremost muslin exporter, with Mughal Dhaka as capital of the worldwide muslin trade. It became highly popular in 18th-century France and eventually spread across much of the Western world.

Decline under Company rule

During the period of Company regime, the East India Company imported British-produced cloth into the Indian subcontinent, but became unable to compete with the local muslin industry.

The Company administration initiated several policies in an attempt to suppress the muslin industry, and muslin production subsequently experienced a period of decline. 

Recognition

In 2013, the traditional art of weaving Jamdani muslin in Bangladesh was included in the list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

In 2020, it was given Geographical indication status as a product of Bangladesh due to efforts of the government of Bangladesh, the fourth GI-certified product after Jamdani sarees, Hilsa fish, and Khirsapat mangoes.